Do Kwon In For a Hard Time in the Montenegro Jail: Report

• According to a criminal defense lawyer, Do Kwon is set to face a hard time in the Montenegro jail system, known for its harsh conditions. 
• The lawyer said that the jail system remains the same as those mentioned in the 2020 human rights report by the US State Department. 
• Prisons in Montenegro are known for their “poor conditions” due to being overcrowded and lacking in proper medical care for the inmates.
• The lawyer added that rooms in the prisons are “8 meters squared and very crowded,” and around 10 to 11 people are living together in a room.
• Do Kwon might have to spend a year in Montenegrin jails before he is extradited to the US following the decision in his pending case in the country.

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Do Kwon, the mastermind behind the Terra ecosystem, which collapsed in May 2022, wiping off more than $40 billion from the global crypto market capitalization, was detained in Montenegro earlier this month and has been accused of defrauding investors. Interestingly, it seems that the conditions of the crypto entrepreneur are expected to worsen in the coming days, as a report claims that the creator of LUNC and USTC will face harsh conditions in the country’s penal system.

According to the report from Protos, a criminal defense lawyer who did not reveal their identity said that the country’s jail conditions and prisons remain the same as those mentioned in the 2020 human rights report by the United States State Department. 

The report also cited a case wherein prison officers were accused of torturing and “inflicting grievous bodily harm” on 11 inmates in 2015 and as a result, were convicted for the same. Do Kwon is destined to remain in the Montenegro prison for a significant amount of time while he awaits extradition to the US. 

Further, some of the prisons in Montenegro are known for their “poor conditions” due to being overcrowded and lacking in proper medical care for the inmates. The US State Department cited reports from the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture, stating that a majority of prisoners were confined within overcrowded cell walls for 23 hours, and there were reports of violence between inmates as well. 

It is important to mention here that Do Kwon might be facing up to a year in Montenegro jail before he is extradited to the US. However, the time duration also depends on the decision made by the judge in his case over the alleged use of forged travel documents to enter the country.

“In the case when we receive several extradition requests, I would like to say that determining to which state they will be extradited is based on several factors like the severity of the committed criminal offense, the location and time when the criminal offense has been committed, the order in which we have received the request for extradition and several other factors,” said Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovač regarding the extradition of Do Kwon. 

According to the Protos report, the lawyer added that rooms in the Montenegrin prisons are “8 meters squared and very crowded,” and around 10 to 11 people are living together in a room. Sometimes, there’s not even a bed in the prison cells.

As reported earlier by Bitnation, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially filed a lawsuit against Do Kwon and Terraform Labs, accusing them of orchestrating “a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.” The lawsuit stated that the two also marketed Anchor Protocol and misled investors with promises of high returns.

Back in 2022, the LUNA token (now known as LUNC), was ranked as one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the crypto market, while Anchor Protocol was a DeFi protocol with one of the highest TVLs in the crypto space. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem led to the collapse of crypto lending platform Celsius Network and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

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